We meet President Silvano Intini, in a bar by the sea, during a sunset in mid-June when it is already full summer in Puglia and another record season is promised.
Silvano, let’s start from the end. The welcome at the Town Hall of many fans and many people from Bitonto
Marvelous. Last year I thought I had seen it all with the party at the Castle for the Italian Cup but what I saw this year at the town hall both on the way back from Genoa and on the way back from Bari was something that moved me. I enjoyed the bus ride through the streets of the city, people recognized the players, greeted and applauded. These are moments I won’t forget
Speaking of emotion, someone saw you more excited than last year.
Apart from the fact that you never get used to winning and I discovered that every victory is truly unique. But last year was different. It was the first time ever and we really didn’t realize what was happening, it all seemed so surreal. When you’ve never won, doing it for the first time doesn’t let you fully enjoy the flavor of what you’ve achieved. In recent months we have grown and this year we were more aware. Already during the Final Eight I noticed that we were different. We all felt that we were the favorite team and that we would have to do more than the previous year to confirm the prediction. We enjoyed every moment and in the end having won the trophy again made us smell the results of the effort and the joy was even greater.
Your fans continue to consider you a “terrible rookie” but now you are something else.
We’re running. Some say we run too fast (he smiles, ed.). What we were able to do this year was extraordinary. Everyone says you made history. No one had won two championships in a row in the 15 years of existence of Serie A in the current format, we reached Ternana and Montesilvano at the top of the list. We played 7 finals in less than two years, winning 5, losing one in the eighth penalty and the seventh is arriving in September: also a record for Italy. When we started, our idea was never to achieve a victory as an end in itself but to create a path that would become a model for the world of futsal. A way of understanding high-level sport in a provincial city that involves the entire city, from entrepreneurs to schools, from parishes to associative clubs. Everyone must feel like they are protagonists of what we do. I must say that, despite being a few years ahead of the times we had planned, we are succeeding in our objective. Everyone in Bitonto feels like they are protagonists of our victories.
More than one wonders what the recipe for this Bitonto is.
There isn’t a recipe. And I don’t even know if it’s truly replicable. I say that I put all my passion into it which has grown as the months went by, that my family and the staff that has been created around us put all of themselves into giving the best. The team truly feels like protagonists of an incredible journey and is never left alone even in the most difficult moments. No player is left behind and everyone knows they are an important piece of this mechanism. This year too many of our top players received phone calls and requests for “quotes”. They all answer the same way: why try to change if things are going well in Bitonto, the team is strong, the club supports us and we always aim to win?
By the way, it’s planning time, June is “market” time.
This rush makes me anxious. Everyone who wants to know what we do, who we hire, who we don’t renew. It’s mid-June, the championship has just finished, the girls are leaving to rest. Those who are agitated are those who have not achieved their objectives and are trying to improve their staff. If it were up to me I would start next season without changing anything. The fact is that improving this team is not easy. We are very attentive to “people” before we are to players. Those who arrive must immediately be available to make themselves available to the project both in sporting terms and in terms of “commitment”. Being great players but making your talent available to the overall project.
The fans dream and name excellent players.
We too dream and each of us would like to bring at least two players each to Bitonto. But there must be 12 of which a maximum of 5 are not trained in Italy. And there’s no escaping from here. We need to improve the team in the areas where we have suffered the most this year, perhaps trying to make it more “balanced” as Marzuoli would like.
What type of player are you thinking of to balance the team?
A striker, so Marzuoli is happy (laughs heartily, ed.)
So technical guidance confirmed, Therefore?
With Marzuoli we are following an important and multi-year technical and tactical journey and we will certainly start again from him. We shook hands and started from there. When you talk about contracts, you omit an important part of the way we operate: the Sponsor Meeting which is scheduled for a few days this year. This is not a simple aperitif between entrepreneurs, it is a real moment of planning and planning. What allows us to call the players and offer them contracts arises precisely from the commitments that we all make there. Advice, ideas and ideas emerge which we then take into account during the season. At this year’s meeting (as in previous ones) the company will present itself with clear and defined ideas and already precise proposals. As always, the same partners will make proposals. What matters is that from the sponsor meeting we come out with a defined plan of what the next season will be, starting from the budget. This makes it easier to work and you have more strength to make the most important decisions. Extrabudgets can also emerge that allow you to do things you didn’t expect…
The fans dream of the Champions League.
I also dream at night about the penalties of Burela (He smiles, ed.). The European tournament is one of our objectives and above all we have the desire and intention to organize it in Puglia. In this sense we have already made contact with partners for logistics and hospitality. The 5-a-side Football Division has assured us of its support. We are waiting for the season to end to officially move and propose our candidacy to the organization to the partner companies. It would be another dream come true to bring the Champions League to Bari and be able to fill our stadiums again. Then obviously our dream is to win the tournament but that’s another matter. We will participate in the tournament, wherever it takes place, to get to the end, then we’ll see. As always the goal is to be protagonists.
Speaking of Bari, almost 5 thousand spectators at the Palaflorio
On Sunday we closed a circle. I want to take advantage of this to thank the Mayors of Giovinazzo, Bisceglie, Mola di Bari, Bari who have hosted us in recent years and where we achieved our victories. Before we talked about what our project is. Well it is a project that moves over 2-3000 people to fill buildings that are even 30-40 km away from our city. I don’t think this is something that can be easily replicated. Probably by the end of this month the construction site for our building will finally start, which will be able to contain a third of the people who were at the Palaflorio last Sunday. Here, if there is another thing on which we now think we have a clear idea, it is that even when we have our own arena we will continue to hold some matches, those with more spectators in larger arenas in the Bari Metropolitan Area. abandon the idea of playing in Giovinazzo, Bisceglie, Bari.
We are at the end, shall we close with a name to make the fans dream while they are on holiday?
He laughs. But is this interview to take stock or to find out who will play in Bitonto next season? We have clear ideas. There are two or three issues we are discussing and perhaps there is already an agreement on some of these. I will bring them to the Sponsor Meeting. How many times have you bought a Christmas present in advance and kept it in the closet before delivering it? Or to find the right opportunity or offer for the gift you were looking for on the evening of the 24th? I wish our fans a wonderful holiday, carrying around the pride of being black and green fans. Maybe we will know something the day before the retreat or on August 15th or even on July 2nd. All these people who are in a hurry are because they have never come to Puglia to enjoy their holidays. In fact, our players are experiencing this period with serenity. At the sea. I don’t like this rush of the market, this Apulian sunset is so beautiful. It helps us dream. And the best is yet to come!
